Chronic nicotine and withdrawal effects on radial-arm maze performance in rats.

Rats were tested for choice accuracy in an eight-arm radial maze during and after chronic administration of nicotine via subcutaneously implanted glass and Silastic capsules. Nicotine administration significantly improved choice accuracy relative to controls. The effect gradually became apparent over the first 2 weeks of exposure and persisted through the third week. Surprisingly, the significant facilitation of the nicotine-treated rats relative to controls continued for 2 weeks after the end of nicotine administration. No effects of nicotine were seen on choice latency or the strategy to make adjacent arm entries.